best fall bait

I was out yesterday and I came across a few spots that were swarming with fish. I'm guessing crappie, and perch mixed. So far so good, but.....
I had really hard time getting any bites. I was dunking minnows on 3 rods, one 10 ft, 20 ft and 30 ft. Not much action.
I did pick up a nice crappie or two when making a turn and the baits swung over structure.
I'd sweat there were hundreds down there.
I only tried minnow.
In this situation should I try jigs with variety of colors and one rod with minnows?
I always assumed minnows were number one bait.

thanks,
brett w

ps, Lake Wylie, water temp 56

I guess you were tight lining maybe your speed was a little to fast. Jigs work as good as minnows do. I would have tried a jig before I left them to question. Give us your GPS cords and we will try an experiment on them Friday. Did you try drop shot method when you were over them? Sometimes they just won't co-operate and you have to bump their nose with the bait. LOL Come out Friday with us and see if they bite then.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by BigDawgg

I guess you were tight lining maybe your speed was a little to fast. Jigs work as good as minnows do. I would have tried a jig before I left them to question. Give us your GPS cords and we will try an experiment on them Friday. Did you try drop shot method when you were over them? Sometimes they just won't co-operate and you have to bump their nose with the bait. LOL Come out Friday with us and see if they bite then.

---

I pretty much thought I was doing the drop shot method on them. But I'm not 100% sure what that is. I was sitting on top of the spot and had a 1/32 oz jig head with a minnow on it, and above that about 12-18", I have one or more split shots.

thanks,

I would like to hear more. I was out Saturday and boy was it tough wind was blowing and very cold. I did find a spot just like you did that was loaded with fish I run a HB 597ci hd di at the bow and a 999 on the console. I was tied to a pole in about 20 feet and they where all over my screens had fish ID on and they where more in the 455 beam then the 200 beam on the 597 knowing my unit I knew they where to the right or left and not directly under me. Set my poles out stayed in that spot about 45 min and only 4 crappie fishing minnows on mr. Crappie code red light wire hooks. Can someone tell me what I could have done differently?

Hey Brett, dropshotting is where you fish your weight on the very end of your line and come up 12"-18" and tie on your jig or hook. This way you can keep your line in contact with the bottom or structure without hanging up and know where your lure or lures are relative to the weight. You can add more lures up the line if you want. Hope this helps.

DY-NO-MITE works pretty well in cold weather !:Rofl

John, don't say that then everyone will know how you get your fish.:Rofl

Brett, I thought you were tight lining when you said:( I did pick up a nice crappie or two when making a turn and the baits swung over structure.) Sorry! to misunderstand you. If you do like Robdogg says you may get a few more to hit. Maybe try slower action. Other than being slower try what ofishlbizzness said.:Rofl Good luck next time. Join us Friday and watch Uncle Remus do the Great triple Lindy off his pontoon.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Robdogg

Hey Brett, dropshotting is where you fish your weight on the very end of your line and come up 12"-18" and tie on your jig or hook. This way you can keep your line in contact with the bottom or structure without hanging up and know where your lure or lures are relative to the weight. You can add more lures up the line if you want. Hope this helps.

---

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Robdogg

Hey Brett, dropshotting is where you fish your weight on the very end of your line and come up 12"-18" and tie on your jig or hook. This way you can keep your line in contact with the bottom or structure without hanging up and know where your lure or lures are relative to the weight. You can add more lures up the line if you want. Hope this helps.

---

Thanks,
I'll try that next time as well.

bw

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by BigDawgg

Brett, I thought you were tight lining when you said:( I did pick up a nice crappie or two when making a turn and the baits swung over structure.) Sorry! to misunderstand you. If you do like Robdogg says you may get a few more to hit. Maybe try slower action. Other than being slower try what ofishlbizzness said.:Rofl Good luck next time. Join us Friday and watch Uncle Remus do the Great triple Lindy off his pontoon.

---

thanks, I was being pushed around a bit and moving some on my own trying to find fish. So when i moved, the rod at 30 ft would swing up to maybe 20' and that's when I got some hits.

what would be a good drop shot amount of weight for 40' of water?
1 oz?
also, just having minnow lashed to a line would take away a lot of the action of the baits? correct?

I like using jigs best.:)

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by brettw

thanks, I was being pushed around a bit and moving some on my own trying to find fish. So when i moved, the rod at 30 ft would swing up to maybe 20' and that's when I got some hits.

---

This tells me the fish were suspended around 20' and you were fishing below them at 30'.............. remember crappie feed up

Brett, I think most of us around here use a loop in our line about 12 to 16 inches above our lead. This way your minnow has room to do their thing while being pulled or bounced off the bottom. As for amount of lead that's up to you and how you are fishing. You want to maintain a direct line down as much as possible. If you let it get out and away from you the bite will be not felt as good as is when straight down. The only other way to help you is you get in the boat with one of us and see how we do it. I hope this helps you some.

About the weight to use....I start with a 3/8 oz and go heavier depending on the depth, water current present, and wind. I know you mentioned 40 ft. deep, I rarely fish over 25-30 ft at most, and at that depth 1/2 oz works fine. Use whatever is necessary to get you bait to the target area and keep it there. If you are using jigs, the will be added weight on the rig as well. Bell type sinkers work well for this, I don't use egg sinkers because the way you have to tie them off will cause the line to break easily, but they can be used in a bind.

guys,
i went back to my spots that failed me last week,
better set up, drop shot and what ever it's called with the minnow on the end and the weight above,
I did pretty good with some very big fish.
I was very patient this time,
kept 13

Brett, glad you got into them. You can drop shot any way you want, hook on top of lead or on the bottom either way you still get results. When we do a day trip why don't you join in with us. We all would like to meet you.:popcorn

that would be fun. saturday or sunday mornings I can go usually,